Japanese art and Ogata Gekko: individualism during a changing landscape Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The life of Ogata Gekko is extremely fascinating because he lived during a period of momentous times in Japan. He was born in 1859 during the Edo Period but the Meiji Restoration of 1868 would usher in many revolutionary [...]
Japanese art and culture: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and ukiyo-e Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was a great innovator within the world of ukiyo-e and he produced around 10,000 prints during his lifetime. Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) was born during a period of rapid change and this applies to the Meiji Restoration of 1868 [...]
Japanese art and Torii Kiyonaga: Ukiyo-e and bijinga Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815) was an extremely stylish ukiyo-e artist who belonged to the Torii school. His rise to the top of this school highlights many aspects of Japanese culture within the art world because he wasn’t related to the Torii family [...]
The Japanese woodblock print artist Nana Shiomi By toshidama From time to time we like to look at the connections between traditional ukiyo-e and contemporary art. One contemporary Japanese woodblock artist of particular note is Nana Shiomi whose work in extending the reach of the medium and embedding traditional iconography and motifs in the contemporary mien [...]
Japanese art and ukiyo-e: Keisai Eisen and the View of Shogetsu Pond Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Keisai Eisen was a complex individual because he could compose stunning images of tranquility but private matters were more complex and he apparently owned a brothel and was a heavy drinker. However, the image of the View [...]
West Meets East in Japanese Prints (earlier than expected) by toshidama Most people tend to think of Japan as being sealed from the rest of the world until Commander Perry’s famous gunboat diplomacy of 1854. This is true in the main but there are notable examples of Dutch fraternisation prior to the reforms that led to [...]
The Pachyderm in the Room – Kuniyoshi’s Elephant By toshidama The elephant has long presented artists of all genres with a problem. The elephant is exotic, clearly enormous and spectacular but in captivity it lacks the dynamism, the heroism that its reputation suggests. Very few artists have successfully represented the elephant and because of the [...]
Utagawa Kuniyoshi: stunning images of tranquility or myth? Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Utagawa Kuniyoshi like many ukiyo-e artists tackled the usual themes of the “floating world” but more than most, he really came alive with powerful images when it applied to mystical tales and Japanese folklore. However, this article is based on glimpses [...]
Kawanabe Kyosai: individualistic ukiyo-e artist (Part 2) Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Kawanabe Kyosai had a very distinctive style and this individualistic ukiyo-e artist compliments this rich Japanese form of art. Kyosai may have had personal demons to solve during his lifetime but his art blessed the world. The richness of Kyosai and how [...]
WHY JAPANESE PRINTS? By toshidama Some people say, ‘why Japanese prints?’… or, ‘it’s a bit niche isn’t it?’ Well, yes and no. The market for Japanese prints is large. Pensive Love, 1790, by Utamaro fetched €313,00 at auction in 2002. A fine Hiroshige can sell for up to $30,000 at the moment. There are major sales [...]
David Bowie… Pop Goes Kabuki By toshidama Ukiyo-e artists have used kabuki, (traditional Japanese theatre) as subject matter for their woodblock prints more or less since its inception in the seventeenth century. David Bowie started experimenting with kabuki for his stage shows in 1973. By the time of his Aladdin Sane tour he was wearing actual [...]
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